When the Roman Pontiff dies. Short historical-liturgical excursus-When the Roman Pontiff Dies. A brief historical-liturgical excursus

When the Roman Pontiff dies. BREVE EXCURSUS STORICO-LITURGICO

Ogni Papa, in his role of vicar of Christ, does not belong entirely to itself; This is evident in particular when death arrives. In the recent past, hardly, i Papi riuscivano a morire in santa pace, in the silence, lontano da occhi indiscreti o rituali di preambolo. Un Papa trapassava quasi mai da solo ma, come un antico sovrano, era circondato dai suoi cortigiani.

— Liturgical ministry —

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

 

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PDF print format article – PDF Article print format

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La morte del Romano Pontefice è un momento particolare per la vita della Chiesa Cattolica; un passaggio definito tecnicamente Sede Apostolica vacante, che porta con sé un insieme di atti, di avvenimenti e di riti che, by their nature, sono unici nel loro genere.

Non vogliamo farne qui una trattazione sistematica, ma piuttosto toccare, anche per mezzo del ricorso alla storia, alcuni aspetti liturgici e rituali che sono passati sotto i nostri occhi in occasione della morte di Papa Francesco.

Morire da Papa. La prima stazione

Ogni Papa, in his role of vicar of Christ, does not belong entirely to itself; This is evident in particular when death arrives. In the recent past, hardly, i Papi riuscivano a morire in santa pace, in the silence, lontano da occhi indiscreti o rituali di preambolo. Un Papa trapassava quasi mai da solo ma, come un antico sovrano, era circondato dai suoi cortigiani. Alle prime avvisaglie di agonia, indeed, si metteva in moto una serie di minuziose azioni cerimoniali che accompagnavano il Pontefice verso la fine terrena.

Come prima cosa venivano avvisati tutti i cardinali residenti a Roma, così come tutti i titolari dei vari Dicasteri della Santa Sede; ed iniziava una silenziosa processione davanti al moribondo per rendergli l’ultimo omaggio. L’Unzione degli Infermi ed il Viatico erano amministrati dal Cardinale Vicario, mentre era compito dei penitenzieri e dei canonici della Basilica Vaticana elevare le preghiere di accompagnamento nell’agonia, soprattutto le litanie dei santi canonizzati dal Pontefice morente.

Emesso l’ultimo respiro, la morte del Papa era accertata dal medico; il Maestro di Camera copriva il volto del Pontefice defunto con un velo bianco e, mentre nella cappella privata iniziavano le celebrazioni delle SS. Messe per la sua anima, si provvedeva ad una prima vestizione: la talare bianca, il rocchetto e la mozzetta papale. Solo in questo momento veniva introdotto il Cardinale Camerlengo che di fatto, nella Sede Apostolica Vacante, assume la «reggenza» della Chiesa. Scortato dalle guardie svizzere compiva l’atto di riconoscimento ufficiale della morte del Pontefice per tutta la Chiesa. Il Camerlengo, intonato il From the depths, toglieva il velo e batteva per tre volte la fronte del defunto, chiamandolo col nome di battesimo: «N. sei morto?»; al terzo colpo, non ricevendo risposta, annunciava: «The Pope is really dead». Questo rito oggi non avviene più. La riforma voluta da Papa Francesco, stabilisce che la costatazione ufficiale della morte avvenga nella cappella, dopo che la salma del Papa è già stata composta.

Oggi quei rituali che possono perfino sembrare «folcroristici» e che gravitavano intorno all’agonia e alla morte del Papa hanno lasciato il passo ai momenti di preghiera ecclesiale, per affermare la fede in Dio a cui sempre apparteniamo e nelle cui mani sempre siamo, vivi o defunti. A Dio Padre è raccomandato il Papa che ha appena lasciato questo mondo e alla Vergine Maria, col canto del Hi Regina, si chiede di mostrare al Papa defunto il volto di Gesù, frutto benedetto del suo grembo. Compito del Cardinale Camerlengo, in questa fase, è quello di spezzare l’Anello del Pescatore e annullare il Sigillo Papale.

La salma del Papa viene imbalsamata per permettere la conservazione nei giorni di esposizione pubblica. Un tempo questo processo, che contemplava l’utilizzo di antiche tecniche imbalsamatorie, prevedeva anche il prelevamento dei visceri, mentre il cuore del Papa defunto veniva conservato in un’urna nel coro della Chiesa dei SS. Vincenzo e Atanasio alla Fontana di Trevi. Si ritiene che questa pratica sia avvenuta l’ultima volta in occasione della morte di Leone XIII. Today, per evitare eccessive manipolazioni, vengono usati metodi meno invasivi.

Il corpo del Papa, sotto la supervisione del Maestro delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche Pontificie, viene rivestito degli abiti pontificali: the shirts, la casula rossa, il pallio, la mitria bianca bordata d’oro, lo zucchetto bianco, un anello episcopale e la croce pettorale. Il rosso è il colore liturgico del «lutto papale», usato dal Pontefice anche in vita, quando per esempio presiede il rito delle esequie. Come sappiamo è un colore che richiama il sangue dei martiri e la presenza viva dello Spirito Santo; per questo motivo il Papa, in quanto successore di Pietro, è avvolto nei paramenti rossi che simboleggiano il suo servizio interamente consacrato a Cristo e alla Chiesa, nella testimonianza della fede.

Con la deposizione del corpo del defunto nella bara — un tempo era posto su una portantina, ma Francesco, riformando i riti delle esequie pontificie, ha disposto diversamente — inizia la Prima Stazione, che si svolge nel luogo dove il Papa è morto. È quindi un momento riservato alle persone più vicine al lui, accompagnato dalla preghiera di suffragio.

Videre Petrum. La seconda stazione

Nel giorno e nell’ora stabilita dal Collegio Cardinalizio, la salma del Pontefice defunto viene traslata nella Basilica di San Pietro «dove ha esercitato spesso il suo ministero di Vescovo della Chiesa che è in Roma e di Pastore della Chiesa Universale» (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, in seguito OERP, editio 2005, n. 68) per ricevere l’omaggio dei fedeli. Un tempo il corpo del Papa veniva esposto nella Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento, su un catafalco reclinato che permetteva ai fedeli di toccarne i piedi per l’ultimo atto di venerazione. Today, più significativamente, la bara viene posta davanti all’altare della Confessione, in corrispondenza della tomba dell’Apostolo Pietro.

La processione è accompagnata dal canto di alcuni salmi e cantici evangelici adatti alla circostanza, mentre all’ingresso in Basilica si intonano le litanie dei santi. Per alcuni giorni, la salma del Pontefice rimarrà esposta nella basilica e riceverà l’omaggio dei fedeli: «Presso la salma, i fedeli innalzeranno a Dio incessanti preghiere per il defunto Pontefice» (OERP, editio 2005, n.87).

Durante questi giorni sono previsti vari momenti di preghiera comunitaria, in modo particolare la celebrazione dell’Eucaristia e la Liturgia delle Ore.

Et in carne mea videbo Deum, salvatorem meum. La terza stazione: Messa esequiale e sepoltura

La Santa Messa esequiale rappresenta il momento culminante delle esequie del Romano Pontefice. La Costituzione Dominic Flock che regola le fasi della Sede Apostolica Vacante, stabilisce che questo momento avvenga entro il 4° e il 6° giorno dalla morte del Papa. Sono i Cardinali a stabilire il luogo delle esequie solenni, ma, dato il prevedibile concorso di popolo, generalmente queste avvengono in Piazza San Pietro.

Il giorno precedente i funerali avviene il rito della chiusura del feretro, un’occasione densa di significato, poiché è il momento in cui il corpo del Papa viene sottratto da ora in poi alla vista del popolo di Dio. Dopo la lettura e la firma del Rogito, un documento che ricorda i principali avvenimenti e atti della vita del Pontefice, il volto del Papa viene coperto con un velo bianco «nella viva speranza che egli possa contemplare il volto del Padre, insieme con la beata Vergine Maria e tutti i Santi» (OERP, editio 2005, n.95). Quindi il Rogito ed alcune monete coniate nel corso del pontificato vengono deposte nella bara prima della sua effettiva chiusura.

La Messa esequiale è presieduta dal Cardinale Decano e concelebrata dai Cardinali e dai Patriarchi delle Chiese orientali. Queste esequie non si discostano, nella loro struttura principale, da quelle di un qualsiasi cristiano. Come prima lettura viene proclamato un testo degli Atti degli Apostoli (10,34-43); come responsorio il Salmo 23 («Il Signore è il mio pastore») a cui segue un brano della Lettera ai Filippesi (3,20–4,1) e la celebre pagina evangelica di Giovanni che richiama direttamente il ministero petrino: «Simone, you love Me? man, tu lo sai che ti voglio bene» (GV 21,15-19).

Un elemento caratteristico della liturgia esequiale del Sommo Pontefice è rappresentato dall’Ultima Raccomandazione e Commiato che corrisponde al saluto che la comunità dei credenti rivolge al fratello e al Pastore della Chiesa universale. Nelle esequie del Papa questo saluto è dato:

Dalla Chiesa di Roma al suo vescovo, per bocca del Cardinale Vicario, invocando la Beata Vergine Maria Salus populi romani, the apostles, and martyrs, i papi, i santi e le sante romani;

Dalle Chiese Orientali, per bocca di un Patriarca unito agli altri rappresentanti delle Chiese d’Oriente;

Da tutta la Chiesa cattolica al suo pastore, per bocca del Cardinale Decano.

Questo triplice affidamento dell’anima del defunto, si conclude con una rinnovata professione di fede, espressa dalla schola that, durante l’aspersione e l’incensazione, sings:

"I believe: Il Signore è risorto e vive,
e un giorno anch’io risorgerò con lui.
Che io possa contemplarti, mio Dio e Salvatore mio.
I miei occhi si apriranno alla sua luce,
e su di lui si poserà il mio sguardo.
Che io possa contemplarti, mio Dio e Salvatore mio.
Conservo salda questa speranza in cuore:
Che io possa contemplarti, mio Dio e Salvatore mio».

Al termine della celebrazione esequiale, il feretro viene prelevato ed accompagnato al luogo della sepoltura. La sepoltura nelle grotte vaticane, sotto la Basilica di San Pietro, è diventato tradizionale; tuttavia il Papa può decidere diversamente, come ha fatto Papa Francesco che ha scelto di essere sepolto in Santa Maria Maggiore.

I novendiali

È tradizione, confermata anche dalla riforma voluta da Papa Francesco, che a partire dalla Messa esequiale seguano nove giorni di celebrazioni eucaristiche in suffragio del Papa defunto. In queste celebrazioni è coinvolto tutto il popolo di Dio, anche se esse sono affidate a particolari categorie di persone: fedeli della Città del Vaticano, della Chiesa di Roma, i Capitoli delle Basiliche papali, the members of the Roman Curia, le Chiese Orientali.

Tutta la Chiesa sparsa nel mondo si unisce nella preghiera e rafforza la fede e la speranza; così anche la morte diventa dono di grazia e occasione per ringraziare e benedire il Dio di ogni consolazione.

«Morto un Papa, se ne fa un altro»

Questo celebre detto, che può suonare addirittura fatalista, And, in fact, ciò che avviene dopo la morte di ogni Pontefice Romano. Si potrebbe affermare che la Sede Vacante è quel momento forte in cui il Pontificato entra in una sorta di «anonimato» cosicché il pontefice defunto e il suo successore eletto, poiché appartengono a qualcosa di più grande, paiono passarsi l’anima del ruolo. È quanto afferma il celebre poeta romanesco Giacchino Belli: il Papa morto consegna al neoeletto lo spirito dell’importante compito. Possono variare le forme esteriori del corpo o anche il cervello, ma il lascito sarà quello, poiché voluto dall’eterno. Con versi arditi, ma significativi, il poeta dice: sembra quasi che il corpo del nuovo Papa cada dal cielo senz’anima, ma solo col fiato vitale. Perché la dignità, l’anima del ruolo di ogni pontefice gli viene lasciata da chi lo ha preceduto.

Lascio adesso al Padre Ariel la lettura della poesia Er passa-mano, pubblicata da Gioacchino Belli il 4 October 1835:

«Er Papa, er Visceddio, Nostro Siggnore,
È un Padre eterno com’ er Padr’ Eterno.
Ciovè nun more, O, ppe ddí mmejjo, more,
Ma mmore solamente in ne l’isterno.

Ché cquanno er corpo suo lassa er governo,
L’anima, ferma in ne l’antico onore,
Nun va nné in paradiso né a l’inferno,
Passa subbito in corpo ar zuccessore.

Accussí ppò vvariasse un po’ er cervello,
Lo stòmmico, l’orecchie, er naso, er pelo;
Ma er Papa, in quant’ a Ppapa, è ssempre quello.

E ppe cquesto oggni corpo distinato
A cquella indiggnità, ccasca dar celo
Senz’anima, e nun porta antro, ch’ er fiato».

Florence, 1° May 2025

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WHEN THE ROMAN PONTIFF DIES. A BRIEF HISTORICAL-LITURGICAL EXCURSUS

Every Pope, in his role as Vicar of Christ, does not belong entirely to himself; this is particularly evident when death comes. In the recent past, Popes rarely managed to die in peace, in silence, far from prying eyes or preamble rituals. A Pope almost never passed away alone but, like an ancient sovereign, was surrounded by his courtiers.

— Liturgical pastoral —

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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The death of the Roman Pontiff is a special moment in the life of the Catholic Church; a passage technically defined Vacant See, which brings with it a set of acts, events and rites that, by their nature, are unique in their kind.

We do not want to make a systematic treatment of it here, but rather touch, also by recourse to history, on some liturgical and ritual aspects that passed before our eyes on the occasion of the death of Pope Francis.

Dying as Pope. The First stage

Every Pope, in his role as Vicar of Christ, does not belong entirely to himself; this is particularly evident when death comes. In the recent past, Popes rarely managed to die in peace, in silence, far from prying eyes or preamble rituals. A Pope almost never passed away alone but, like an ancient sovereign, was surrounded by his courtiers. At the first signs of agony, in fact, a series of meticulous ceremonial actions were set in motion that accompanied the Pontiff towards his earthly end.

The first thing to do: notify all the cardinals residing in Rome, and all the heads of the various Dicasteries of the Holy See; a silent procession before the dying man to pay him their last respects. The Anointing of the Sick and the Viaticum administered by the Cardinal Vicar, while it was the task of the penitentiaries and canons of the Vatican Basilica to raise the prayers accompanying him in his agony, especially the Litanies of the Saints canonized by the dying Pontiff.

After the Pope’s last breath, his death is certified by the doctor; the Master of the Chamber covered the deceased Pontiff’s face with a white veil and, while the celebrations of the Holy Masses for his soul began in the private chapel, the first vestment was carried out: the white cassock, the rochet and the papal mozzetta. Only at this moment was the Cardinal Camerlengo introduced, who in fact, in the Vacant Apostolic See, assumed theregencyof the Church. Escorted by the Swiss guards, he performed the act of official recognition of the Pontiff’s death for the entire Church. The Camerlengo, having intoned the De Profundis, removed the veil and struck the deceased’s forehead three times, calling him by his baptismal name: «(Name). are you dead?»; at the third blow, receiving no response, he announced: «Vere Papa mortuus est». This rite no longer occurs today. The reform desired by Pope Francis establishes that the official certification of death takes place in the chapel, after the Pope’s body has already been composed.

Today those rituals that may even seem “folkloristic” around the agony and death of the Pope have given way to moments of ecclesial prayer, to affirm faith in God to whom we always belong and in whose hands we always are, whether alive or dead. The Pope who has just left this world is recommended to God the Father and the Virgin Mary, with the singing of the Hi Regina, is asked to show the deceased Pope the face of Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb. The task of the Cardinal Camerlengo, in this phase, is to break the Ring of the Fisherman and cancel the Papal Seal.

The body of the Roman Pontiff is embalmed to allow for its preservation during the days of public display. At one time, this process, which involved the use of ancient embalming techniques, also included the removal of the viscera, while the heart of the deceased Pope was preserved in an urn in the choir of the Church of St. Vincenzo e Atanasio at the Trevi Fountain. It is believed that this practice took place for the last time on the occasion of the death of Leo XIII. Today, to avoid excessive manipulation, less invasive methods are used.

The body of the Roman Pontiff, under the supervision of the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, is dressed in pontifical vestments: the alb, the red chasuble, the pallium, the white miter edged with gold, the white zucchetto, an episcopal ring and the pectoral cross. Red is the liturgical colour ofpapal mourning”, used by the Pontiff even in life, for example when he presides over the funeral rite. As we know, it is a colour that recalls the blood of the martyrs and the living presence of the Holy Spirit; for this reason the Pope, as the successor of Peter, is wrapped in red vestments that symbolize his service entirely consecrated to Christ and to the Church, in the testimony of faith.

With the deposition of the body of the deceased in the catafalque — once it was placed on a stretcher, but Francis, reforming the rites of papal funerals, has arranged otherwise — the First Station begins, which takes place in the place where the Pope died. It is therefore a moment reserved for the people closest to him, accompanied by prayers of suffrage.

Videre Petrum. The Second Stage

On the day and at the time established by the College of Cardinals, the body of the deceased Pontiff is transferred to St. Peter’s Papal Archibasilicwhere he often exercised his ministry as Bishop of the Church in Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church” (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, hereinafter, 2005 edition, n. 68) to receive the homage of the faithful. In the past, the body of the Pope was exposed in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, on a reclining catafalque that allowed the faithful to touch his feet for the final act of veneration. Today, more significantly, the coffin is placed in front of the Altar of Confession, in correspondence with the tomb of the Apostle Peter.

The procession is accompanied by the singing of some psalms and evangelical hymns appropriate to the occasion, while at the entrance to the Basilica the litanies of the saints are intoned. For a few days, the body of the Pontiff will remain exposed in the basilica and will receive the homage of the faithful: “At the body, the faithful will raise incessant prayers to God for the deceased Pontiff” (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, 2005 edition, n.87).

During these days, various moments of community prayer are planned, in particular the celebration of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Et in carne mea videbo Deum, Salvatorem meum. The Third Stage: Funeral Mass and Burial

The Funeral Mass is the culminating moment of the funeral of the Roman Pontiff. The Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis which regulates the phases of the Apostolic See Vacant, establishes that this moment occurs within the 4th and 6th day after the death of the Pope. The Cardinals are the ones who establish the place of the solemn funeral, but, given the foreseeable crowd of people, generally these take place in St. Peter’s Square.

The day before the funeral, the rite of closing the coffin takes place, an occasion full of meaning, since it is the moment in which the Pope’s body is removed from the sight of the people of God from now on. After the reading and signing of the Deed, a document that recalls the main events and acts of the Pontiff’s life, the Pope’s face is covered with a white veilin the fervent hope that he may contemplate the face of the Father, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints” (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, 2005 edition, n.95). Then the Deed and some coins minted during the pontificate are placed in the coffin before its actual closing.

The funeral Mass is presided over by the Cardinal Dean and concelebrated by the Cardinals and Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches. These funerals do not differ, in their main structure, from those of any Christian. As the first reading, a text from the Acts of the Apostles is proclaimed (10:34-43); as a responsory, Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”), followed by a passage from the Letter to the Philippians (3:20-4:1) and the famous Gospel passage from John which directly recalls the Petrine ministry: “Simon, do you love me? Lord, you know that I love you” (Jn 21:15-19).

A characteristic element of the funeral liturgy of the Supreme Pontiff is represented by the Last Recommendation and Farewell which corresponds to the greeting that the community of believers addresses to the brother and the Pastor of the universal Church. In the funeral of the Pope this greeting is given:

From the Church of Rome to its Bishop, through the mouth of the Cardinal Vicar, invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary Salus populi romani, the apostles, the martyrs, the popes, the Roman saints and saints;

From the Eastern Churches, through the mouth of a Patriarch united with the other representatives of the Eastern Churches;

From the entire Catholic Church to its pastor, through the mouth of the Cardinal Dean.

This triple entrustment of the soul of the deceased ends with a renewed profession of faith, expressed by the choir which, during the sprinkling and incensing, sings:

«I believe: The Lord is risen and lives,
and one day I too will rise with him.
That I may contemplate you, my God and my Savior.
My eyes will open to his light,
and my gaze will rest on him.
That I may contemplate you, my God and my Savior.
I keep this hope firm in my heart:
That I may contemplate you, my God and my Savior».

At the end of the funeral celebration, the coffin is collected and accompanied to the place of burial. Burial in the Vatican Grottoes, under St. Peter’s Basilica, has become traditional; however, the Pope can decide otherwise, as Pope Francis did, who chose to be buried in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Greater.

The novendials

It is a tradition, also confirmed by the reform desired by Holy Father Francis, that starting from the funeral Mass, nine days of Eucharistic celebrations follow in suffrage of the deceased Pope. All the people of God are involved in these celebrations, even if they are entrusted to particular categories of People of God: faithful of the Vatican City, of the Church of Rome, the Chapters of the Papal Basilicas, members of the Roman Curia, the Eastern Churches.

The entire Church throughout the world unites in prayer and strengthens faith and hope; thus even death becomes a gift of grace and an opportunity to thank and bless the God of all consolation.

«When a Pope dies, another one is always made»

This famous saying, which may even sound fatalistic, is, in fact, what happens after the death of every Roman Pontiff. One could say that the Vacant See is that moment in which the Pontificate enters into a sort of “anonymity” so that the deceased pontiff and his elected successor, since they belong to something greater, seem to pass on the soul of the role.

This is what the famous Roman poet Gioacchino Belli stated in 1835: the dead Pope hands over to the newly elected the spirit of the important task. The external forms of the body or even the brain may vary, but the legacy will be the same, since it is willed by the eternal. With bold but significant verses, the poet says: it almost seems as if the body of the new Pope falls from the sky without a soul, but only with the breath of life. Because the dignity, the soul of the role of every pontiff is left to him by those who preceded him.

Florence, May 1st 2025

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From dust to water: The meaning of the austere symbol of the ashes – From dust to water: the meaning of the austere symbol of ashes

(English text after the Italian)

 

From dust to water: The meaning of the austere symbol of the ashes

The holy ashes that are traditionally derived from the burning of the Benedetti olive branches for the Palm Sunday of the previous year perform their entrance door function for the strong time of Lent and already let the man renewed by the risen Christ already glimpsed in the waters of baptism, as the liturgy makes us relive in the holy vigil of Easter night.

— Liturgical ministry —

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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PDF print format article – PDF Article print format

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Yesterday, with the liturgy of the ashes The Holy Time of Lent has begun for the Church. Once that, According to what reported in the rules for the liturgical year and the calendar, has the purpose of preparing for Easter. The Light Liturgy Guide to the celebration of the Easter mystery both the catechumens, through the different degrees of Christian initiation, both the faithful by means of the memory of baptism and through penance.

As everyone knows The Holy Time of Lent begins with a symbol that is called austere: Receive ash on the head. In the Old Testament the ash is a symbol of what is provisional, perishable and as such is reduced to powder, As you read in Job 10, 9; or because it is worthless (Gen 18, 27). Always in the Old Testament, ash was a sign of desolation and mourning. So here are the gestures to spread ash on the head (2Sam 13, 19), sit in ash as Job (Gib 2, 8), roll in ash (This 27, 30), feed on ash as of bread (Shall 102). Davide exposed his sins in ashes, The ninivites after the preaching of Jonah covered the ash's head. The ash was used in purification rites, When a red cow was burned whose ashes were then thrown into the water, used for the various ritual purifications (Num 19, 1 e ssg). Above all, the ash brings the thought to the words that God addresses to Adam after sin: "Dust, You are and in dust you will return " (Gen 3,19); They underline the punishment of death and the nothing of the creature shaped by soil powder.

In the Middle Ages, public penitents who had to atone for their faults and receive the sacrament of penance as a second baptism presented themselves at the beginning of Lent covered with ash and with the cilicio. In the Christian liturgy, also currently, The expression that the priest uses blessing and imposing the ashes on Wednesday that marks the beginning of Lent are these are: "Remember that you are dust and powder you will return". Accept, that is, The meaning of pain, of the mourning of death as a consequence of the sin and fragility of man. Hence the duty to recognize his faults and to engage in a healthy life, as the alternative formula of the imposition of the ashes urges: "Get converted and believe in the Gospel". The ashes reminding us that we are dust helps us to reinvigorate the sense of true Christian consciousness that accuses us of being guilty and does not give us peace until we have found remedy for our inclination to evil.

Penance becomes a need: We must make penance to denounce ourselves to the sky and the earth that we are miserable people. The obligation to implore mercy and to demonstrate with some of our acts that we repudiate the evil made and the evil we are able to do. Far from then to be a sign of superstition, The ash reminds us of a theological truth well synthesized by the words of the blessing, the oldest one, that can be used on Wednesday that from the beginning of the Holy Lent:

«O God who does not want death but the conversion of sinners, It does that recognizing that our body will return to dust, The exercise of penance obtains the forgiveness of sins and a renewed life in the image of the Risen Lord. For Christ, our Lord. Amen».

The same concept It is also expressed in the renewed formula of the blessing of the ashes that reads:

«O God who pity of those who regret and give your peace to those who convert, Listen with paternal goodness the prayers of your people and bless these children of yours who will receive the austere symbol of the ashes, Because through the spiritual itinerary of Lent they come completely renewed to celebrate your child's Easter ".

And it is also repeated in the alternative formula in which these words are used:

«O God who does not want the death of sinners but the conversion, Listen to our prayer benign and bless these ashes that we are about to receive on our boss, recognizing that we are dust and powder we will return. The exercise of Lenten penance obtains the forgiveness of sins and a renewed life in the image of your risen son, who lives and reigns over the centuries of the centuries. Amen».

Prayers, Remember above, They therefore present us the right perspective from which to look at the sign of the ashes imposed on the head of those who start the Lent itinerary with good will. It is essentially a gesture of humility, what does it mean: I recognize myself for what they are, A fragile creature, made of land and destined for the earth, but also made in the image of God and destined for him. Dust, Yes, but loved, shaped by the love of God, animated by his vital breath and capable of recognizing his voice and therefore to answer him; free e, because of this, even capable of disobeying him, giving in to the temptation of pride and self -sufficiency. Here is the sin, mortal disease soon entered to pollute the blessed land which is the human being. Created in the image of the saint and the right man has lost his innocence and now he can return to being right only thanks to the justice of God, the justice of love that, As San Paolo writes:

"It has manifested itself through faith in Christ" (RM 3,22).

Just the second reading of the Liturgy of the Word of Ash Wednesday, contains Paul's appeal to let himself be reconciled with God (cf. 2Color 5,20), Through one of his famous paradoxes that leads all the reflection on justice to the mystery of Christ. Saint Paul writes:

«He who had known no sin [that is, his son made man] God sinned him in our favor, because in him we could become justice of God " (2Color 5,21).

In the heart of Christ, that is, in the center of his divine-human person, All the drama of freedom has been played in decisive and definitive terms. God brought his own design of salvation to the extreme consequences, remaining faithful to his love even at the cost of delivering his unigenous son to death and death of Croce. Divine justice is discouraged here, deeply different from the human one: «Thanks to the action of Christ, We can enter "bigger" justice, which is that of love " (Benedict XVI, Message for Lent, 2010)

Holy Lent, while starting with the austere gesture of the ashes that makes us bow the head, However, it widens our horizon and oriented us towards eternal life, Since on this earth we are on pilgrimage:

«We have not here a stable city, But let's go in search of the future " (EB 13,14).

Lent while it makes us understand the relativity of the assets of this land and therefore it makes us capable of necessary renunciations, It also gives us the freedom to do the good, to open the earth in the light of the sky, in the presence of God among us.

So the holy ashes which are traditionally obtained from the burning of the Benedetti olive branches for the Palm Sunday of the previous year perform their entrance door function for the strong time of Lent and already let the man renewed by Christ risen and reborn in the waters of baptism, as the liturgy makes us relive in the holy vigil of Easter night.

Florence, 6 March 2025

Beginning of Lent

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FROM DUST TO WATER: THE MEANING OF THE AUSTERE SYMBOL OF ASHES

The holy ashes which are traditionally obtained from the burning of the olive branches blessed for Palm Sunday of the previous year perform their function as the gateway to the strong season of Lent and already allow us to glimpse the man renewed by the Risen Christ and reborn in the waters of baptism, as the liturgy makes us relive in the Holy Vigil of Easter night

— liturgical pastoral —

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Yesterday, with the Liturgy of Ashes, the holy season of Lent began for the Church. A time which, according to what is reported in the norms and the calendar for the liturgical year, has the purpose of preparing for Easter. The Lenten Liturgy guides both the catechumens, through the different degrees of Christian initiation, and the faithful through the memory of baptism and through penance in the celebration of the Paschal mystery.

As everyone knows, the holy season of Lent begins with a symbol that is defined as austere: receiving ashes on the head. In the Old Testament, ashes are a symbol of what is temporary, perishable and as such is reduced to dust, as we read in Job 10:9; or because it is worthless (Gen 18:27). Also in the Old Testament, ashes were a sign of desolation and mourning. Here then are the gestures of sprinkling ashes on the head (2Sam 13:19), sitting in ashes like Job (Job 2:8), rolling in ashes (This 27:30), eating ashes like bread (Ps 102). David atoned for his sins in ashes, the Ninevites after Jonah’s preaching covered their heads in ashes. Ashes were used in purification rites, when a red cow was burned and its ashes were then thrown into the water used for the various ritual purifications (Num 19:1ff). Above all, ashes bring to mind the words that God addressed to Adam after his sin: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19); they underline the punishment of death and the nothingness of the creature shaped from the dust of the ground.

In the Middle Ages, public penitents who had to atone for their sins and receive the Sacrament of Penance as a second baptism appeared at the beginning of Lent covered in ashes and wearing sackcloths. Today, In the Christian liturgy, the expression that the priest uses when blessing and imposing the ashes on Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent are these:

«Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return».

That is, I accept the meaning of pain, of death mourning as a consequence of sin and man’s fragility. From this comes the duty to recognize one’s faults and to commit to a healthy life, as exhorted by the alternative formula for the imposition of ashes:

«Convert and believe in the Gospel».

The ash, reminding us that we are dust, helps us to reinvigorate the sense of true Christian conscience which accuses us of being guilty and does not give us peace until we have found a remedy for our inclination to evil.

Penance becomes a need: we must do penance to denounce ourselves to heaven and earth that we are miserable people. We have the obligation to implore mercy and to demonstrate with some of our actions that we repudiate the evil done and the evil we are capable of doing. Far from being a sign of superstition, the ash reminds us of a theological truth well summarized by the words of the blessing, the oldest one, which can be used on the Wednesday that begins Holy Lent:

«O God who does not want death but the conversion of sinners, grant that by recognizing that our body will return to dust, the exercise of penance obtains for us the forgiveness of sins and a renewed life in the image of the risen Lord. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen» (From the Roman ritual)

The same concept is also expressed in the renewed formula of the blessing of the ashes which reads:

«O God who has mercy on those who repent and gives your peace to those who convert, listen with paternal goodness to the prayers of your people and bless these children of yours who will receive the austere symbol of the ashes, so that through the spiritual itinerary of Lent they may arrive completely renewed to celebrate the Easter of your Son».

And it is also repeated in the alternative formula in which these words are used:

«O God who does not want the death of sinners but conversion, listen kindly to our prayer and bless these ashes that we are about to receive on our heads, recognizing that we are dust and to dust we will return. May the exercise of Lenten penance obtain for us the forgiveness of sins and a renewed life in the image of your risen Son, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen».

The prayers mentioned above therefore present us with the right perspective from which to look at the sign of the ashes placed on the heads of those who begin the Lenten journey with good will. It is essentially a gesture of humility, which means: I recognize myself for what I am, a fragile creature, made of earth and destined for the earth, but also made in the image of God and destined for Him. Dust, yes, but loved, shaped by the love of God, animated by his vital breath and capable of recognizing his voice and therefore responding to him; free and, for this reason, also capable of disobeying him, giving in to the temptation of pride and self-sufficiency. Here is sin, a deadly disease that soon began to pollute the blessed earth that is the human being. Created in the image of the Holy and the Just, man has lost his innocence and can now return to being just only thanks to the justice of God, the justice of love which, as Saint Paul writes:

«was manifested through faith in Christ» (Rom 3:22).

Precisely the second reading of the Liturgy of the Word on Ash Wednesday contains Paul’s appeal to be reconciled with God (see 2 Color 5:20), through one of his famous paradoxes which leads all reflection on justice to the mystery of Christ. Saint Paul writes:

«For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him» (2 Color 5:21).

In the heart of Christ, that is, in the center of his divine-human Person, the entire drama of freedom was played out in decisive and definitive terms. God took his plan of salvation to the extreme consequences, remaining faithful to his love even at the cost of handing over his only begotten Son to death and death on the cross. Here divine justice is revealed, profoundly different from human justice:

«Thanks to the action of Christ, we can enter into the “greater” justice, which is that of love» (Benedict XVI, Message for Lent, 2010)

Holy Lent, although it begins with the austere gesture of the ashes that makes us bow our heads, nevertheless broadens our horizon and orients us towards eternal life, since on this earth we are on a pilgrimage:

«For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come» (Heb 13:14).

While Lent makes us understand the relativity of the goods of this earth and therefore makes us capable of necessary renunciations, it also gives us the freedom to do good, to open the earth to the light of Heaven, to the presence of God among us.

Thus the holy ashes which are traditionally obtained from the burning of the olive branches blessed for Palm Sunday of the previous year perform their function as the gateway to the strong season of Lent and already allow us to glimpse the man renewed by the Risen Christ and reborn in the waters of baptism, as the liturgy makes us relive in the Holy Vigil of Easter night.

Florence, 6 March 2025

Beginning of Lent

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«I'm not coming to the concert, I'm not a Renaissance prince", said the Holy Father, However, this does not mean clearing away the worst of the sloppiness

«I'M NOT COMING TO THE CONCERT, I AM NOT A RENAISSANCE PRINCE" SAID THE HOLY FATHER, HOWEVER, THIS DOES NOT MEAN CLEARING THE WORST OF THE SLOPPERNESS

Our wise teachers warned us from a young age about several insidious dangers, making us aware that the non-conformism of conformists exists, which is the worst conformism; the contempt of clericalism by the clericals, which then translates into the worst clericalism; the fascism of anti-fascists, which ends up manifesting itself as a violent form of neo-fascism even worse than that of the Fascist Twenty Years.

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Eleven years have passed since then, it was June of 2013 when the Holy Father Francis left the seat empty in the center of the Paul VI hall, while guests and authorities listened for a while’ the «Great classical music concert for the Year of Faith» banned, all in absence, rather than presence, of the pope. A few days earlier, speaking to nuncios from all over the world, the Holy Father had denounced the "spiritual worldliness" which is the "leprosy" of the Church, "giving in to the spirit of the world" which "exposes us pastors to ridicule", that "sort of bourgeoisie of spirit and life that pushes us to settle down, to seek a comfortable and peaceful life". The fact is that no one has ever announced what happened to Archbishop Rino Fisichella when everyone, Everyone 17,30, they were waiting for the pontiff to enter the room: «The Holy Father will not be able to be present due to an urgent and urgent task» (cf.. Gian Guido Vecchi, Corriere della Sera, WHO).

I'll try to be brief, but not because there is a lack of arguments, quite the opposite: there would be too many topics and, if in some cases one just cannot remain silent, it is good to be very measured.

Who among us has had the grace of having authentic teachers - and each of us Fathers of the Isle of Patmos, by divine grace, he had them - he was able to learn what perhaps someone did not have the opportunity to learn in Buenos Aires before as a religious, then as a Jesuit priest, finally as bishop. Finally arrived at the sacred throne a 77 year old, It's not easy to change your view and perspective as an elderly person, for this to happen it would be necessary for the Holy Spirit to land on the head of the chosen one not like a dove but like an Andean condor.

Our wise teachers they warned us from a young age about various insidious dangers, making us aware that the non-conformism of conformists exists, which is the worst conformism; the contempt of clericalism by the clericals, which then translates into the worst clericalism; the fascism of anti-fascists, which ends up manifesting itself as a violent form of neo-fascism even worse than that of the Fascist Twenty Years.

Some people think that exposing "us pastors to ridicule" are only the parades of those characters, so-called lace & laces, which aestheticize the sacred liturgy in an exasperated and sometimes exasperating way? No one denies the existence of the element of ridicule in these subjects, if we want even grotesque, but the ridiculous has many faces, therefore it should be considered no less ridiculous than the Cardinal Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang Diocese in Malaysia you celebrate Holy Mass sitting at a table with other concelebrants and you raise the Body of Christ with your head covered by the red skullcap; all when even us, at the time we were altar boys, we knew that the bishop stands bareheaded before the exposed Blessed Sacrament and that during the liturgies, until the Eucharist was placed inside the tabernacle, he doesn't cover his head again (cf.. Ceremonial of the Bishops, NN. 153-166). It's here, be clear, it's not about being hyper-critical, because the photos that document everything are truly disturbing.

Cardinal Sebastian Francis, who will surely be a holy man, has 72 year old. If the happily reigning Pontiff does not reach his centenary, he will enter the conclave as an elector, where he will find himself faced with brother cardinals of specific tendencies, but above all from rich countries capable of supporting entire local Churches in poor countries, who will point out the bag of money with one finger, with another finger they will indicate the candidate to write on the ballot.

This happens when you fall into the non-conformism of the conformists, in contempt of the clericalism of the clericals, in the fascism of anti-fascists. But the beauty, if beautiful we want to call it, everything is still to come. And may God help us!

Florence, 1September 2024

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«Go further, so close you make me upset …» If a priest removes the crucifix from the center of the altar so that it does not cover the “centrality” of the celebrant-protagonist, it means that we have reached the end of the line

«GO FURTHER, SO CLOSE YOU MAKE ME DISTURBED …» IF A PRIEST REMOVES THE CRUCIFIX FROM THE CENTER OF THE ALTAR SO THAT IT DOES NOT COVER THE "CENTRALITY" OF THE CELEBRANT-PROTAGONIST, IT MEANS THAT WE HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE LINE

What can we say if videos are circulating in which priests and even bishops are seen going up to the altar and removing the crucifix from above it because it evidently takes away visibility, it occupies the space that the celebrant will take up shortly afterwards, sometimes brandishing monstrous microphones that, those yes, they can very well stay where they are?

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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What is strange and bizarre it usually strikes a chord social, because it dramatically increases views and attracts people's comments. No human sphere can be considered alien to this anxiety of searching for the particular, from the ridiculous to the monstrous, even the religious one.

Some truly strange events which took place in churches have found success on the various most famous and used platforms. From the priest who sings a popular song from the altar or makes it the backdrop for small laughable videos, to the shocking clothes of some spouses, to certain excessive blessings with holy water. Does anyone use i social also to stigmatize these behaviors that happen in churches or those gestures that border on the abuse of the place, because they are not suitable, that of the liturgy used at will. The world has become a great stage and unfortunately even religious people think that it can be accessed by exploiting the space of a church hall or presbytery. A few days ago there was news about a designer who designed a more than transparent wedding dress for a church wedding and there was no shortage of people who were able to comment: «A church is just a building, he can wear whatever he wants" (WHO).

But what can we say if videos are circulating in which priests and even bishops are seen going up to the altar and removing the crucifix from above it because it evidently takes away visibility, it occupies the space that the celebrant will take up shortly afterwards, sometimes brandishing monstrous microphones that, those yes, they can very well stay where they are?

The Bishop of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro

A priest of the Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno

The oddities of our time which also intersect the religious world and how the liturgy is lived and celebrated gives us the "La" to remember that the presbyters are not the undisputed masters of the celebrations and that in truth they are acting for a service that conveys a greater and deeper mystery. In this regard, I would like to focus on the altar because some oddities and distortions have occurred there, at the hands of some celebrant or diligent "pastoral worker", not to mention the so-called "liturgical animators" who think they can act as they please or more likely forget that the altar is not just any furniture, a place to put things in bulk.

Just to set the record straight, in the rite of dedication of the altar it is said that:

«with the anointing of Chrism [esso] becomes a symbol of Christ, who was called Anointed most worthily of all; in fact the Father anointed him with the Holy Spirit and made him High Priest, who offered the sacrifice of his life for the salvation of all on the altar of his own body" (Order of the dedication of the Church and the Altar, IV/22).

LThe altar is therefore a symbol of Christ and this doctrine is traditional. Saint Ambrose mentioned it several times:

«What is the altar, if not the sign of the body of Christ?» (What is the altar?, except the form of the body of Christ?), (Comm. in Cant. I,6: PL 15,1855; Of the sacred., V, 2, 7; cfr IV, 2, 7: PL 16, 447. 437).

The historical events which concern the presence of altars in churches are ancient and complex and naturally go beyond this modest contribution. We could start with the fixed altar that began to appear in the basilicas of the 4th century, until the adoption of the stone altar for which the biblical symbol of Christ "cornerstone of the spiritual building" was no stranger (cf.. Shall 118, 22; Mt 21, 42; At 4, 11; 1Color 10, 4; 1PT 2, 4-8). We could mention the ancient custom of celebrating the Eucharist on the tombs of martyrs which found concrete translation in the construction of altars above their tombs, as well as the translation of their relics under the altars of the new basilicas. Saint Ambrose always writes about this: «In the place where Christ is the victim, there are also triumphal victims. Above the altar him, who died for everyone; these, redeemed by his passion, under the altar" (Letter 22, 13: pl 16, 1023).

Of all the places that are present in a church only the altar knows a dedication rite, to underline its excellence:

«The altar, on which the sacrifice of the cross is made present in the sacramental signs, it is also the table of the Lord, in which the people of God are called to participate when they are summoned for Holy Mass; the altar is the center of the thanksgiving that takes place with the Eucharist" (The general setting of the Roman Missali, 296).

Even the Supreme Pontiff remembered it: «The gaze of those praying is directed towards the altar, priest and faithful, summoned for the holy assembly around it" (Speech by 24 August 2017).

The importance of the altar it is naturally also remembered by the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

«The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, it represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of sacrifice and the Lord's table, and even more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present and as a victim offered for our reconciliation, both as heavenly food that is given to us" (n. 1383).

For these reasons the liturgical reform going back to the ancient Christian tradition, he wanted only one altar to be built in churches, detached from the wall to be able to walk around it and celebrate towards the people, placed in a way that attracts attention. That it was normally fixed and dedicated, with the stone table, but other worthy matters are not excluded, solid and well made. And relics of saints can be placed under the altar; that it is covered with a tablecloth and there is a cross and candlesticks above or next to it (The general setting of the Roman Missal, 298-308).

Veneration for the altar - who in fact kisses, it is incensed and bowed before it - it is motivated by its connection with the sacrifice of Christ, to whom, in the Sacrament, the sacrifice of the praying Church is associated. The spiritual offering of the faithful is placed on it, signified in bread and wine, because the Holy Spirit, for the ministry of the priest, make them a sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, so that those who feed on it become one body in Christ, to the praise of God the Father. The prayer in the preface in the dedication mass expresses this well: «Around this altar we nourish ourselves with the body and blood of your Son to form your one and holy Church».

And it is precisely the uniqueness of the redemptive sacrifice, on Calvary and in the Eucharist, on the part of Christ priest and victim, which led the conciliar liturgical reform to establish that multiple Masses cannot be celebrated at the same time in the same church and that in new churches there should be only one fixed altar. The intention to educate the Christian people with this practice and with this sign is clear, the altar, which «represents (meaning) clearly and permanently Christ Jesus, Living stone, and represents in the midst of the assembly of the faithful the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church" (The general setting of the Roman Missal, NN. 298, 303).

The Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, yet on this aspect, as on others, for that matter, the sensitivity of those Fathers who celebrated the important assembly and that of the many documents that followed unfortunately does not seem to have been acquired or recovered by everyone. In 2002, for example, the Holy thirst, or the Congregation for Divine Worship, had to intervene to declare it "unlawful" to celebrate the First Communion Mass on a temporary altar in the middle of the church with the naive intention of "evoking the Last Supper", since it is a useless duplication of the "sign already present"; a gesture designed to confuse the people by distracting them from the essentials. But also today in some Parishes, sometimes in front of the altar, someone places a table with the symbols of Passover on it, thus generating total liturgical and theological confusion, even if the intent would be the opposite. It is not unusual for the altar to become a support for explanatory posters, for example of a particular liturgical season and everything is placed underneath it, from the Nativity scene at Christmas time to the various offers, sometimes curious, in some celebrations. I once saw a poor little lamb forced to stay in a basket under the altar all the time when it probably would have preferred to graze in a meadow. At a certain point he started to bleat, creating hilarity in those present at the Eucharist. And a bit of everything is placed on top of it and perhaps for this very reason, as mentioned above, some celebrants find nothing better than raising the Cross, probably considering it a redundant furnishing, while instead it is foreseen and placed there to remind us towards whom we must turn our gaze.

How to fix all this? Certainly through the continuous training of everyone. Of the priests first who must take care of the celebrations and therefore be expert knowledge of the subject. In this case of the peculiarity and centrality of the sign of the altar which refers to that of Christ. They should remember, for instance, and even outside the liturgical action, the altar is an invocation and expectation of the presence of Him, Christ, who makes all things new (cf.. AP 21, 5).

Because of this, through catechesis and educational moments, they must help the faithful to form spiritually and become aware of a well-celebrated liturgy with its own signs, transparent and more important, just like the altar, it is and must be the first school in itself: «The law of prayer, law of belief».

We started by remembering the horrors that the social they are ready to reverberate until a new and sensational one pops up. Among these, some have to do with what happens in the church and in the liturgies. Thus was born this contribution which is not intended to make people laugh or multiply negative comments, as happens on Web. But it's just an invitation to take, from this circumstance, the importance and beauty of the contents of the faith and how they are expressed in the liturgy. If mistakes have been made in this area and will be made, the principle always applies: «Errors are corrected where detectedr»; that we could translate: mistakes are corrected as soon as you realize you have made them.

In conclusion we cannot fail to remind all those naive Catholics, so worried about being scandalized and shouting scandal, but not as concerned about carefully checking news and images, that many videos they posted on social they have nothing to do with the Catholic Church and our clergy. In fact, there are pseudo churches around the world which in their external liturgical apparatus are inspired by the Catholic Church. In this regard it would be enough to remember that after the First Vatican Council (opened in 1869, finished in 1870, but formally closed only in 1960) there was a schism that gave birth to the so-called Old Catholic "church".. Only from this aggregation were born and subsequently multiplied dozens of self-styled "churches" managed by rather exotic characters. Having seen and considered that there is enough liturgical abuse in our Catholic clergy; seen and considered that sometimes one almost has the impression that some of our priests compete with each other to see who can perform the most eccentric extravagance, that at least other people's antics are not attributed to us, because ours are enough and more than enough, as well as sufficiently embarrassing those of us who continue to be Catholic.

 

Florence, 20 July 2024

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Holy thursday 2024. A greeting homily by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori

HOLY THURSDAY 2024. A HOMILY OF GREETING FROM CARDINAL GIUSEPPE BETORI

Affirm that today, from the eagles and hawks that were we are moving on to chickens or, good going, to turkeys, it is not an ungenerous and irreverent statement but a fact: in recent years we have witnessed the episcopal appointments of embarrassing individuals, but what's worse is that they are all the same, or as they say molded, cloned for emulation. All this in the face of the plurality of voices within the Church!

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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This article inspired me - which is not so, because it involves reporting the text of a homily pronounced by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence - it was Father Ariel, who a few weeks ago dedicated a tribute to his Bishop in these columns of ours, S. AND. Mons. Andrea Turazzi; tribute done with a touch of class summarized in this sentence:

«A good priest is such if he waits for the end of his mandate to praise his Bishop […] Only now that he no longer has the power of pastoral governance over the Diocese and over me, I can publicly say how much I revered it, appreciated and loved my Bishop".

The Archbishop of Florence, despite having presented his resignation from the pastoral governance of our Diocese to the Supreme Pontiff, he is not yet emeritus, nor has his designated successor been made official yet. His mission among us, de facto, However, it is to be considered finished. As for his successor, it is almost certain that he has already been chosen and appointed, we just have to wait for the official announcement.

With Cardinal Giuseppe Betori - and now very few others who became bishops in their fifties under the pontificate of the Holy Pontiff John Paul II - an ecclesiastical and ecclesiastical season which also had its many problems is definitively closed, but in any case also populated by personalities of high pastoral level and cultural depth. Affirm that today, from the eagles and hawks that were we are moving on to chickens or, good going, to turkeys, it is not an ungenerous and irreverent statement but a fact: in recent years we have witnessed the episcopal appointments of embarrassing individuals, but what's worse is that they are all the same, or as they say molded, cloned for emulation. All this in the face of the plurality of voices within the Church!

Making the words my own addressed by a brother to his Bishop today I can say too:

«A good priest is such if he waits for the end of his mandate to praise his Bishop […] Only now that he no longer has the power of pastoral governance over the Diocese and over me, I can publicly say how much I revered it, appreciated and loved my Bishop".

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori has revealed itself to be a pearl now set in the diadem of the genealogy of the last Bishops donated to this Florentine Church of ours by Rome which was now, as the following homily demonstrates...

Florence, 28 March 2024

 

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence, Holy Chrism Mass of the year 2024

The Chrism Mass, which the Bishop concelebrates with the presbyters of the different areas of the diocese and during which he blesses the holy chrism and the other oils, it is considered one of the main manifestations of the fullness of the priesthood of the bishop and a sign of the close union of the presbyters with him". These are the words of the Roman Pontifical in the Premises to the rite of the Blessing of the Oils. With these words fifteen years ago I addressed you in my first presidency of the celebration of the Chrism Mass in the Florentine Church. I still refer to them today, in this celebration which can be presumed to be my last presidency of the Chrism Mass in this cathedral, to address you in particular to you Florentine priests, with whom I have shared the pastoral governance of the people of God that has been entrusted to me in recent years.

Mine are meant to be words of thanks, of reflection, of delivery for the future. However, I would like to avoid slipping into feelings, although important and not absent in my heart at this moment, to bring everything back to the light of the word of God. Gratitude, awareness, confident hope must in fact be measured by the faithfulness with which we have been able to correspond to the gift that Christ has given us, of how we feel obliged to delve into its forms in a way that is appropriate to the times, of how we hand ourselves over to it in the certainty that the presence of the Lord and his Spirit is among us, despite the uncertainties of the present, it will never fail.

In this horizon we welcome the revelation that comes to us today from the word of God regarding the mission of Christ, of the dignities and responsibilities that are given to his disciples, of the service of the word and of grace which is entrusted to us, his ministers, for the benefit of all. The image that summarizes this mystery is that of the anointing, with which the prophet expresses the consecration of the Messiah sent to bring the good news of salvation, to place themselves at the service of the poor and oppressed, to spread the consolation of mercy. We heard Jesus proclaim this same anointing as a sign of the mission for which the Spirit sends him as a liberator of humanity from all its fragility to enter the time of the Lord's grace. In the end, this anointing, now defined as regal and priestly, it is the sign of a redeemed people who live for the glory of the Father.

Announcement, priesthood and kingship from the person of Christ they pass to that of believers in him and our ministry as priests is placed at the service of this passage. Thank you therefore for your ministry at the service of the Word; May there always be within you the desire to know it ever more deeply and to be able to express it again with words that are able to meet the expressed and unexpressed questions of contemporary humanity, we look to the future with confidence, certain that in the inexhaustible richness of the word of God there is a sure orientation for the new challenges that loom over humanity in the days to come. Thank you for your ministry as pontiffs between humanity and its Creator, of generous transmitters of the grace that comes from above and of the voice of humanity and its expectations towards the Father of all; in a world that is built following the myth of self-sufficiency, feel that it is your particular commitment to reawaken in your people the need for invocation and the humility to welcome the gift of life, the new work of the sacraments; always nourish hope within you, so that no obstacle throws you into despair or even just into inertia, because nothing changes anyway, having within us the certainty that the Risen One has the power to make all things new. Thank you for how you animate your communities in your ministry, devote yourself to being, you take on the problems of the poorest in particular; We are indeed ministers of the Church, but our service is always for the coming of the Kingdom of God among us, in the signs of good that we help to blossom and in the contribution that as Christian communities we are able to offer for the affirmation of justice, of peace, of respect for the dignity of every man, of the common good; The place of the Church in society is rapidly changing and consequently that of the priest, therefore we are urged to abandon any nostalgia for centrality but also to reiterate that no one and no world can remain alien to the gift of ourselves in the Lord.

In the homily from fifteen years ago I was calling you to a communion that was not a massifying uniformity, but an interweaving of relationships in the diversity of experiences and in the modulation of the single truth. I asked you to avoid the tired repetition of a monotonous melody to seek a polyphonic harmony in which each voice seeks harmony with the others, for communication that expresses the intelligence of reality and the beauty of experience. I don't know how long we have managed to live like this in these years and I am also here to ask you for forgiveness for what I have not done or for what I may have done in the opposite direction.

The other reminder from fifteen years ago it was at the sacramental root of our ministry, so as not to allow ourselves to be reduced to social agents, although appreciated and well-liked, nor even to officials of a sacred place to resort to as a refuge from human anguish. Sacramentality means that what is decisive in us is the gift of grace, of which we have been and are recipients and of which we have the responsibility of being transmitters. I therefore reminded you and repeat to you that serving the sacramental dimension of the Church means first and foremost a commitment to showing how in the sacramental regime we can grasp the primacy of God in history and how it manifests itself to us and comes into contact with our life thanks to the mediation of Christ, who is the foundation and founder of the sacraments.

And this call to Christ makes me repeat even today that the extent of our being a priest is strictly dependent on our bond with him. Only by remaining united with him can both our identity and our service in the Church and in the world find truth and effectiveness. May this look to Christ never be lacking in our daily life, talk to him, let ourselves be guided and supported by him.

We have walked together over these years. It has been a great gift for me to be your bishop and to be able to count on your support. We don't know when, but in the future another bishop will guide you, to whom I will hand you over but to whom I also ask you to hand yourselves over with trust. The bishops pass, the Lord remains and he is our only true Shepherd, of which we are only signs, aware, as far as I'm concerned, of weakness and insufficiency. I ask the Lord for mercy and I ask you for human understanding. With affection.

 

Florence, 28 March 2024

Metropolitan Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Holy Chrism Mass

 

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Gestures and words, about the liturgy. Let's break a spear in favor of “Kiss me Tucho”, anche se pare avere dimenticato la Redemptionis Sacramentum

GESTURES AND WORDS, ABOUT THE LITURGY. SPEZZIAMO UNA LANCIA A FAVORE DI “BESAME TUCHO”, ANCHE SE PARE AVERE DIMENTICATO LA THE SACRAMENT OF REDEMPTION

Many, to put it mildly, they turned up their noses when the Pontiff chose the current Prefect. There was no shortage of criticism. Rispondendo con rispetto e per alleggerire con una battuta tutto il discorso fatto fin qui si potrebbe ricordare il detto che recita: «Anche un orologio rotto segna due volte al giorno l’ora giusta»

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Per una curiosa legge del contrappasso molti che avevano gioito alla pubblicazione della Begging for confidence, confusa e ambigua dichiarazione del dicastero per la Dottrina della Fede pubblicata il 18 dicembre dell’anno scorso, dinanzi alla quale sono insorti interi episcopati, si sono sentiti di polemizzare con la più recente Nota del medesimo Dicastero sulla validità dei Sacramenti del 2 febbraio di questo anno e intitolata: Gestis verbisque.

The question arises spontaneously: In the 2004 fu pubblicata l’Istruzione Sacramentum che è un capolavoro di teologia sacramentaria, di disciplina dei Sacramenti e di pastorale liturgica. Istruzione che, stando a ciò che è seguitato ad accadere nelle nostre chiese, è stata bellamente disattesa da eserciti di preti creativi e da movimenti laicali che hanno seguitato imperterriti a crearsi le proprie liturgie personalizzate, Neocatecumenali in testa, il tutto nella totale incuranza e mancata vigilanza da parte dei vescovi, sebbene il documento parli molto chiaro nella sua conclusione finale:

«This Instruction, drafted, by order of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was approved by the Pontiff himself on 19 March 2004, on the solemnity of St. Joseph, who ordered its publication and immediate compliance by all those responsible ".

Perché non richiamare all’osservanza di questa istruzione, così ben fatta e dettagliata, semmai stabilendo delle precise sanzioni per chi avesse disatteso le disposizioni date? Perché questo è il problema di fondo che ha caratterizzato gli ultimi cinquant’anni di vita di una Chiesa che chiede, esorta, istruisce e raccomanda, ma che si guarda però bene, in questi documenti, di fissare precise sanzioni per i trasgressori. Not only: in 64 note di richiamo della Gestis verbisque the Sacramentum non è mai stata richiamata e citata una sola volta, cosa oggettivamente grave.

Come ormai sanno anche i sassi la prima succitata Dichiarazione, nell’ambito più ampio del senso da dare alle benedizioni nella Chiesa, apriva alla possibilità di benedire spontaneamente anche coppie in situazioni irregolari e dello stesso sesso. Cosa che per molti vescovi e preti delle varie regioni del Nord dell’Europa non era necessaria, lo fanno arbitrariamente da anni. Questo controversa Dichiarazione prevede Benedizioni da impartire in luoghi e con modalità che non dovranno essere in alcun modo simili a quelle date alle coppie regolari, ma: «In altri contesti, quali la visita a un santuario, l’incontro con un sacerdote, la preghiera recitata in un gruppo o durante un pellegrinaggio. Indeed, attraverso queste benedizioni che vengono impartite non attraverso le forme rituali proprie della liturgia, bensì come espressione del cuore materno della Chiesa, analoghe a quelle che promanano in fondo dalle viscere della pietà popolare, non si intende legittimare nulla ma soltanto aprire la propria vita a Dio, chiedere il suo aiuto per vivere meglio, ed anche invocare lo Spirito Santo perché i valori del Vangelo possano essere vissuti con maggiore fedeltà» (no 40).

Fin qui tutti contenti, almeno i fautori di questa apertura, come se noi avessimo negato in precedenza benedizioni a singole persone, soprattutto a quelle che vivevano in condizioni di irregolarità, o che si erano macchiate dei peccati e dei delitti più gravi.

Per ironia della sorte, proprio coloro che avevano esultato dinanzi alla Begging for Confidence, poco dopo si sono lanciati in dure critiche riguardo la Nota del 2 February, Gestures and words, perché utilizza un linguaggio tradizionale nel definire ciò che occorre affinché un Sacramento sia valido, oltre che lecito. The criticism, in particular, si appunta sull’uso insistito dei termini «forma» e «materia» utilizzati dalla Nota in quanto componenti insostituibili di ogni celebrazione dei Sacramenti, insieme all’intenzione del celebrante. Critica che riguarda lo scollegamento di questi tre elementi costitutivi dall’insieme della celebrazione del Sacramento, dai soggetti che vi partecipano e dai vari segni che vi intervengono, i quali dovrebbero essere, per loro stessa costituzionalità, significativi e, how do you say, parlanti. Gli appunti mossi, so, fanno riferimento al modo con cui la Nota non prende in esame l’interezza del Sacramento celebrato e, come onda di ritorno, si riversano anche sulla Begging for confidence, in quanto lì: «…Un benedire senza forma (senza spazio, time, words, all over) è un non senso» (cf.. See WHO).

Non sta a me prendere le difese di un Dicastero strategico come quello per la Dottrina della fede. But, a leggere e rileggere quella Nota mi viene in mente il «Rasoio di Occam» il quale si potrebbe sintetizzare più o meno così: «A parità di fattori, la spiegazione più semplice è quella da preferire»; o anche «Non considerare la pluralità se non è necessario».

this Note, sia nella lettera di accompagnamento del Prefetto, che nel suo corpo stesso, ricorda che da parte di Cardinali e Vescovi sono stati rilevate, e quindi richiesti chiarimenti, sulle gravi modifiche apportate alla materia e alla forma dei Sacramenti, rendendoli di fatto nulli. Basterebbe leggere i pochi indizi ed esempi, a volte strampalati e curiosi, a cui fa riferimento il Prefetto per capire lo scopo semplice della Nota stessa: richiamare tutti ad una celebrazione dei Sacramenti corretta, loyal, ecclesial. Che se sono concessi, dove permessi dalle Conferenze episcopali, spazi di creatività, questi non divengano invece una inventiva che di fatto manipola arbitrariamente il Sacramento celebrato.

È a partire da questo sfondo e cioè dalla preoccupazione dei Pastori delle Chiese, che la Nota va letta. La quale poi sintetizza ciò che occorre perché un Sacramento sia valido, richiamando la dottrina tradizionale, che è vero, nei suoi tratti salienti risale al Concilio di Trento che il Vaticano II ha ripreso e rielaborato in sintonia con tutto quello che nel frattempo la Chiesa, in quell’assise, riscopriva su sé stessa e su come intendeva proporsi al mondo di oggi.

Non a caso la Nota prende spunto proprio dalla Costituzione Sacrosanctum Concilium per ricordare che il Concilio: «Riferisce analogicamente la nozione di Sacramento all’intera Chiesa». E dalla The light che afferma circa la Chiesa che quest’ultima è: «In Cristo come Sacramento, cioè segno e strumento dell’intima unione con Dio e dell’unità di tutto il genere umano». E ciò si realizza precipuamente per mezzo dei Sacramenti, in ciascuno dei quali si attua a suo modo la natura sacramentale della Chiesa, Corpo di Cristo… Cosciente di ciò la Chiesa, since its origins, ha avuto particolare cura delle fonti dalle quali attinge la linfa vitale per la sua esistenza e la sua testimonianza: God's Word, attestata dalle sacre Scritture e dalla Tradizione, e i Sacramenti, celebrati nella liturgia, mediante i quali è continuamente ricondotta al mistero della Pasqua di Cristo» (cf.. no. 6, 7 e 10).

Per la grandezza di tutto questo the church, if he says, riceve i Sacramenti, li amministra, ma non ne è padrona. Cosa che invece sembra sia accaduta con le varianti creative di diversi ministri e di vari movimenti laicali. È solo a questo punto che la Nota ricorda brevemente ― non è del resto un trattato di liturgia ― quelli che sono elementi essenziali. Innanzitutto la «forma» del Sacramento che corrisponde alle parole che si accompagnano alla materia, la trascende, veicolando il senso cristiano, salvifico ed ecclesiale di ciò che si sta compiendo nella celebrazione. Quindi la «materia» del Sacramento che consiste invece nell’azione umana, attraverso la quale agisce Cristo. In essa a volte è presente un elemento materiale (water, pane, vino, oil), altre volte un gesto particolarmente eloquente (segno della croce, imposizione delle mani, immersione, infusione, consenso, unzione). Tale corporeità appare indispensabile perché radica il Sacramento non solo nella storia umana, but also, più fondamentalmente, nell’ordine simbolico della Creazione e lo riconduce al mistero dell’incarnazione del Verbo e della Redenzione da Lui operata (cf.. no 13).

Infine l’«intenzione» di chi celebra, che nulla ha a che vedere con la sua moralità e la fede, piuttosto con il convincimento di compiere: «Almeno ciò che fa la Chiesa» (Council of Trent). Questa disposizione sottrae il celebrante dall’automatismo e dalla possibile arbitrarietà del singolo, poiché questo atto squisitamente umano è anche ecclesiale. Atto interiore e soggettivo si, which, however, manifestandosi nel Sacramento, diviene di tutta la comunità ecclesiale e: «Poiché ciò che fa la Chiesa non è altro che ciò che Cristo ha istituito, anche l’intenzione, insieme alla materia e alla forma, contribuisce a rendere l’azione sacramentale il prolungamento dell’opera salvifica del Signore» (cf.. no 18).

A tal proposito la Chiesa ha approntato i libri liturgici che non vanno alterati o usati a piacimento, piuttosto osservati fedelmente nelle parole e persino nella gestualità che in essi è indicata. Gli stessi prevedono spazi di creatività e le stesse Conferenze episcopali dei diversi paesi hanno predisposto possibili adattamenti e varianti che corrispondono alla sensibilità e alla situazione dei partecipanti. Si pensi alle celebrazioni coi fanciulli, for instance, ai diversi canoni eucaristici predisposti per loro ed approvati dalla CEI.

La Nota ricorda anche, e questo sembra rispondere agli appunti critici, that: «Materia, forma e intenzione sono sempre inseriti nel contesto della celebrazione liturgica, che non costituisce un ornatus cerimoniale dei Sacramenti e nemmeno una didascalica introduzione alla realtà che si compie, ma è nel suo complesso l’avvenimento in cui continua a realizzarsi l’incontro personale e comunitario tra Dio e noi, in Cristo e nello Spirito Santo, incontro nel quale, attraverso la mediazione di segni sensibili, «viene resa a Dio una gloria perfetta e gli uomini vengono santificati». La necessaria sollecitudine per gli elementi essenziali dei Sacramenti, dai quali dipende la loro validità, deve pertanto accordarsi con la cura e il rispetto dell’intera celebrazione, in cui il significato e gli effetti dei Sacramenti sono resi pienamente intelligibili da una molteplicità di gesti e parole, favorendo in tal modo l’actuosa participatio of the faithful (cf.. no 20).

In this context si inserisce tutta l’importanza della presidenza liturgica e l’arte di celebrare. Queste richiedono la conoscenza dei motivi teologici che le espirano, come quelli di agire, quando si celebra, In persona Christi e Nomine ecclesiae. Come pure la conoscenza dei libri liturgici e dei loro To be noted che spesso si saltano a piè pari perché noiosi. Ma se volessimo fare un paragone, che spero non appaia fuori luogo, fra il celebrare e il gesto sportivo, si vede come quest’ultimo risulti efficace se ha dietro una buona conoscenza e messa in atto dei cosiddetti fondamentali. Un campione, soprattutto di quelle discipline che richiedono gesti ripetuti uguali e precisi, passa molto tempo, anni addirittura, a studiare, ad allenarsi e a esprimersi poi con una disinvoltura che stupisce. Un gesto atletico molto difficile che vediamo eseguire, durante una olimpiade per esempio, ha richiesto una preparazione non indifferente, eppure ci sembra semplice e naturale.

To conclude, so che tanti, to put it mildly, they turned up their noses when the Pontiff chose the current Prefect. There was no shortage of criticism. Rispondendo con rispetto e per alleggerire con una battuta tutto il discorso fatto fin qui si potrebbe ricordare il detto che recita: «Anche un orologio rotto segna due volte al giorno l’ora giusta». But, honestly, questa Nota stavolta suona bene. Non ha nulla di criticabile, se l’intenzione è proprio quella di invitare a custodire e a presentare in modo degno ed ecclesiale un bene tanto prezioso. Infatti così termina:

«Noi […] abbiamo questo tesoro in vasi di creta, affinché appaia che questa straordinaria potenza appartiene a Dio, e non viene da noi» (2Color 4, 7). L’antitesi utilizzata dall’Apostolo per sottolineare come la sublimità della potenza di Dio si riveli attraverso la debolezza del suo ministero di annunciatore ben descrive anche quanto accade nei Sacramenti. La Chiesa tutta è chiamata a custodire la ricchezza in essi contenuta, perché mai venga offuscato il primato dell’agire salvifico di Dio nella storia, pur nella fragile mediazione di segni e di gesti propri della umana natura» (no 28).

Florence, 21 February 2024

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The “Yellow Submarine” and tragedy. To what extent are you required to save human life in all ways?

THE YELLOW SUBMARINE AND THE TRAGEDY. TO WHAT EXTENT ARE YOU REQUIRED TO SAVE HUMAN LIFE IN ALL WAYS?

It takes a lot of mercy, out of the question, because even snooty imbeciles deserve Christian and human mercy in any case, perhaps even more so than intelligent people, wise and prudent.

- Actuality -

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Man receives life on loan for use, he is not the arbitrary owner of it and cannot dispose of it as he sees fit, nor by taking life, as in the case of abortion, nor by taking his own life, as in the case of euthanasia, even if today it is difficult to talk about the salvific value of human suffering, theme to which the Holy Pontiff John Paul II dedicated his own encyclical: saving Passion. Human life crosses the same subjective reality of man who does not give himself life, but who receives it as a gift. So it can't be him who decides to self-suppress himself. It is true that life is in the hands of man, but at the same time it remains a gift that goes far beyond his hands. Because of this, that of life, it is a sacred gift that can be disposed of up to a certain point and within certain limits.

Here is an academic example extreme and terrible that can make the idea: a large group of SS. is about to cross a bridge, once it has been crossed, he will make a massacre of civilians in that country, just as it was at Sant'Anna di Stazzema. In fact, they suspect that partisans are hidden in that country, whose generality and identity they are ignorant of, for this they decided to solve the root problem by killing all the inhabitants, without sparing the elderly, women and children. The only access road to that town is a tens of meters high viaduct built between the wall of a mountain and that of the other mountain. Members of the resistance undermined it, ready to blow it up if necessary. While the soldiers of the S.S. they are about to cross it a completely unaware mother is crossing it with her child by the hand. Request: the bridge must be blown up or not?

To say that the lives of the innocent they can never and under no circumstances be sacrificed, it is a categorical affirmation based on illogical and surreal emotions, especially when the "no at all costs to the sacrifice of human beings" is pronounced in countries where babies are aborted every day, after having decided that in that case, however, we are not dealing with innocent victims, because abortion is a real right, indeed more: "A Great Social Achievement".

About thirty years ago it happened in the areas of my Tuscany that an eccentric young man with thehobby to keep very poisonous snakes in your home, while cleaning one of their cages he was bitten. In Italy, where the only poisonous snakes present in our area are vipers, no drug center had an antidote, which could only be found in Switzerland at a pharmaceutical company specialized in storing very rare drugs. In the hospital they only managed to slow down the effect of the poison that entered the circulation. In the meantime, an F104 plane was sent off from the Grosseto Air Force center which reached Switzerland in half an hour where a company employee gave the pilot the antidote without even getting off the powerful aircraft., then back to basics, all in just over an hour. This case was followed by controversy when it became known how much it cost to start an F104 and above all that at the time, the cost of that antidote, fu pari a 15 million of the old lire, obviously paid for by the state, equivalent to what they might be today in approximately current monetary value 25.000/30.000 Euro.

Some cynics asked the question if it was the case to spend all the money that was spent to save a person who in violation of the laws which already at the time forbade the purchase, conserve and breed certain reptiles, he had gone looking for trouble like that. But they were just cynics, with the aggravating circumstance of inhumanity, because life must always be saved at all costs, for example not by blowing up a bridge in the middle of which is a mother with a child. Then, the hundreds of people who shortly after will be slaughtered by the SS. just passed that pass, in any case they will die happy together with their children, for saving two lives.

Since few days television and the international press they're about a group of three multi-millionaires, plus a quarter who is the son of one of them, who wanted to take away the whim of going down to the depth of 3.800 meters to reach the steamer Titanic sunk off Terranova in 1912 after hitting a iceberg of ice. Tragedy in which they died 1.527 people on 2.232 passenger, solo 705 of which survived.

It's about the whims of the rich? No, the real rich, those who have been such for generations, those who know the delicacy and volatility of money and how difficult it is to keep and increase it; the truly wealthy who owe their wealth to their own particular entrepreneurial or financial genius, they don't do these braggart things, they are typical deeds of the rich. Why only capricious riches, sure you can afford anything, they could pay each 250.000 U.S.. $ to descend to the depth of almost 4 kilometers where the wreck of the Titanic is located, which is a shrine, a cemetery, which as such should be respected. Those depths cannot be the destination of stunts pushed to the extreme aboard a mini-submarine similar to a supposed underwater one in which the patrons could not even stand up, not even kneel, therefore unable to move, but only sitting in the space of 5 meters long for 1.60 of height [cf.. WHO]. A terrible death in the darkest depths of the sea, occurred due to suffocation in a narrow space where it is good not even to think what could have happened in the moments of panic that occurred in a claustrophobic space while oxygen was missing and the four multimillionaires, with the driver of the vehicle, they died of suffocation. It details it a The Print Paul Narcisi, resuscitation specialist, not failing to add:

“This tragedy, while respecting the people involved, forced a mobilization in the relief efforts that did not even take place for i 600 shipwrecked from a few days ago".

As for the guy bitten by the pet snake, also in this case air and sea means were used, sophisticated technological tools, personal, specialists and so on. Fair Enough, to save human life one must try everything. Without forgetting, however, that the four, before boarding, after paying 250.000 $ each signed a contract with a precise release for the company that organized their eccentric stunt, in which it is specified that the undertaking could also have involved the possibility of dying, all specified three times in the text signed and signed by the four rich men.

Say they went looking for it, it is neither lack of pity nor respect towards these dead in a very tragic way. It is a reality, not of lack of mercy: it was they themselves who signed up and declared that they were aware that they could also have met their death, which is to say, black on white, than if that happened, it was because they themselves had gone looking for it, after having been notified to this effect and having also signed it in a contract.

It takes a lot of mercy, out of the question, because even snooty imbeciles deserve Christian and human mercy in any case, perhaps even more so than intelligent people, wise and prudent.

Florence, 22 June 2023

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Great homily by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan: «Who was Silvio Berlusconi? A man"

GREAT HOMILY BY THE METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN: «WHO WAS SILVIO BERLUSCONI? A MAN"

«Silvio Berlusconi was certainly a politician, he was certainly a businessman, he was certainly a character in the limelight of notoriety. But in this moment of leave and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? It was a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy. And now we celebrate the mystery of fulfillment. Here's what I can say about Silvio Berlusconi. He is a man and now he meets God".

— Liturgical ministry —

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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We pastors in the care of souls get used to going up to the pulpits and preaching, we know that there are moments and particular situations in which it is not easy to give an appropriate homily, as in the case of the funeral of Silvio Berlusconi celebrated today in the Cathedral of Milan. Someone might think that the delicacy could be given by the complex personality of the deceased, a man who for several decades rode the national and international political scene. To follow with the presence of the highest state authorities, from the President of the Republic to the Prime Minister. Situations in which it is not allowed, I don't say a word, but not even a wrong sigh. However, this is not the difficulty, even if in more or less similar circumstances several bishops and priests have solved the problem by saying more or less everything without saying anything, thus avoiding any possible problems.

HTTPS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4JqPHsQ26U&t=2s

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan, S. AND. Mons. Mario Delpini, instead he was able to give a truly grandiose homily that brought everyone back down to earth in this aria of beatification of the late Knight, whose figure is part of the history of Italy and for this reason will be the subject of in-depth studies by historians and geopolitical experts for decades and decades. The Ambrosian Archbishop focused on something else: about the man Silvio Berlusconi who was undoubtedly a successful businessman, a politician who presided over the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic for four terms, a histrionic character gifted with a rare and extraordinary sense of self-irony, so much so that he repeatedly declared: «Many are tired of making fun of me, forgetting that I fool myself and that no one can do it as well as me".

Before this complex and even controversial figure, the Ambrosian Archbishop did not hide behind the “say nothing”, but he said it all by building his entire speech on this rhetorical question: «What can we say about Silvio Berlusconi?». Giving the answer right away: "It was a man". And the Ambrosian Archbishop spoke of the man with a Christian poetics that can be applied both to a celebrity like Silvio Berlusconi, or to the last of the elderly who died forgotten in a geriatric ward: a man.

Florence, 14 June 2023

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Full text of the homily of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan

Live

Live. Live and love life. Live and desire a full life. To live and wish that life was good, beautiful for yourself and for loved ones. Living and understanding life as an opportunity to put the talents received to good use. Living and accepting the challenges of life. Living and going through difficult moments in life. Live and resist and don't let defeats bring you down and believe that there is always a hope of victory, of ransom, of life. To live and desire a life that never ends and have courage and trust and believe that there is always a way out even from the darkest valley. Live and not shirk the challenges, to contrasts, to insults, to criticism, and keep smiling, to challenge, to counter, to laugh at insults. To live and feel the forces run out, live and suffer the decline and keep smiling, to try, to try a way to live again. That's what can be said about a man: a desire for life, which finds its judgment and fulfillment in God.

To love and be loved

Loving and wanting to be loved. Loving and looking for love, like a promise of life, like a complicated story, like a compromised fidelity. Desiring to be loved and fearing that love can only be a concession, a condescension, a stormy and precarious passion. To love and to want to be loved forever and to experience the disappointments of love and to hope that there might be a way to a higher love, harder, bigger. Loving and walking the paths of dedication. To love and to hope. Loving and trusting. Love and surrender. This is what can be said of man: a desire for love, which finds its judgment and fulfillment in God.

To be happy

Be happy and love the holidays. Enjoy the beauty of life. Being happy without too many thoughts and without too many anxieties. To be happy with lifelong friends. Be happy with companies that give satisfaction. Being happy and wanting others to be happy too. Being happy with yourself and being surprised that others are not happy. Be happy with good things, some beautiful moments, of the applause of the people, praise from supporters. Enjoy the company. Be happy with the smallest things that make you smile, of the nice gesture, of the rewarding result. Being happy and experiencing that joy is precarious. Being happy and feeling the insinuation of a dark threat that covers the things that make you happy with greyness. Being happy and feeling lost in the face of the irremediable exhaustion of joy. This is what can be said of man: a desire for joy, which finds its judgment and fulfillment in God

I'm looking for the man

When a man is a businessman, then try to do business. It therefore has customers and competitors. It has moments of success and moments of failure. He ventures into reckless enterprises. Look at the numbers not the criteria. He has to do business. He cannot trust others too much and knows that others don't trust him too much. He is a businessman and must do business. When a man is a politician, then try to win. It has supporters and opponents. There are those who exalt it and those who cannot bear it. A politician is always a partisan. When a man is a character, then it is always on stage. It has admirers and detractors. It has those who applaud it and those who hate it. Silvio Berlusconi was certainly a politician, he was certainly a businessman, he was certainly a character in the limelight of notoriety. But in this moment of leave and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? It was a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy. And now we celebrate the mystery of fulfillment. Here's what I can say about Silvio Berlusconi. He is a man and now he meets God.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Milan, 14 June 2023

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The Corpus Christi. A feast to be rediscovered in a time when the Eucharistic cult seems “past fashion” in the streets deserted by shepherds and occupied by “sacred processions” the “politically correct”

THE THE BODY OF THE LORD. A FESTIVAL TO BE REDISCOVERED IN A TIME WHEN EUCHARISTIC CULT SEEMS "OUT OF FASHION" IN THE STREETS DESERTED BY SHEPHERDS AND OCCUPIED BY "SACRED PROCESSIONS" OF THE "POLITICALLY CORRECT"

We are sorry to note - as evidenced by numerous messages from priests who arrived on our Island of Patmos in the past days - that in many of our cities by now the procession of The body of the Lord it has become a memory. Even the Diocese of Rome did not have its procession this year: on the other hand, on the eve of The body of the Lord however, it was used to carry out the meeting conference on human fraternity entitled Not Alone, which also included the presence of the Holy Father, did not materialize due to the last surgery.

— Liturgical ministry —

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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In recent times we really saw more or less everything. Holy Masses celebrated on inflatable mattresses [cf.. WHO, WHO, WHO], on motorcycles or anything else used for altars; with sacred ministers in bathing suits or with clothes that to judge inappropriate for the Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice would be a mere understatement. Holy Thursday reposition altars that, from places that should express love and prayer towards the most precious treasure left to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ, which have become a place of outlet for the most extravagant priestly paturnies [cf.. WHO].

The body of the Lord June 2020, Eucharistic blessing from the cathedral square imparted by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence

It then comes as dew on the fleece in the desert the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, commonly said The body of the Lord, which the Church celebrates on the first Thursday after the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, or the following Sunday. Was written:

“How the Most Holy Eucharist represents the center and summit of all our religious life, as well as the fulcrum of the liturgy, the highest moment of Christian life and the holiest of sacraments, so the holiday of The body of the Lord, apart from Easter and Christmas, it is the most radiant of the liturgical year, because it marks the triumph of the Eucharistic King, and its institution is the most eloquent expression of the religious and ecclesial life of the Middle Ages" (Bernhard Ridder, Ecclesiastical history textbook, Pauline, p. 368).

The origin of this holiday it is traced back historically in the year 1247 in the diocese of Liège, where the bishop introduced this celebration in reaction to the theses of Berengar of Tours (998-1088), according to which the presence of Christ in the Eucharist was not real but only symbolic. The Bishop was inspired by the mystic Saint Juliana of Cornillon (1192-1258), Augustinian nun of Mount Cornillon Convent, who had a vision of the Church as a young man, appeared to her under the guise of a full moon, marked by a dark spot, to indicate the absence of a holiday. Later she had the vision of Christ himself who entrusted her with the task of working to ensure that the feast of the Blessed Sacrament was established, to revive the faith of Christians in the real presence in the Eucharist and to expiate the sins committed against the Eucharistic Sacrament. Become in 1222 prioress of her convent sought advice from the leading theologians of her time (tra cui Jacques Pantaleon, future Pope Urban IV) to request the establishment of the party. This brought the bishop of Liège, Robert of Thourotte (+1246) to call in 1246 a local synod ― because at the time the synods dealt with serious things ... ― which established that from the following year the feast of the The body of the Lord in the diocese of Liège. Incidentally: at the time the bishops had the right to establish liturgical feasts within their own diocese.

In 1264 Pope Urban IV who had already contributed and supported the party of The body of the Lord in Liège, also following the recognition of the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto-Bolsena del 1263, with the bubble Pass out of this world, established the solemnity of The body of the Lord for the whole universal Church, raising it to a feast of obligation and fixing its celebration for the Thursday after the Octave of Pentecost. On the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena-Orvieto, however, we leave the floor to our confrere from Orvieto Marco Nunzi, who is an expert connoisseur [cf.. WHO]. I am interested in underlining some liturgical particularities of this feast:

Eucharistic liturgy. The texts of the readings of the three Masses corresponding to the festive liturgical cycles A, B e C, first of all they present the symbolic figures of the Old Testament concerning the Eucharist such as the manna given as food to Israel in the wilderness, the burnt offerings e i sacrifices of fellowship with the Lord, the blood of the covenant, the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek to Abraham. In the second reading of the same three Masses, the Apostle Paul states that communion with the Body of Christ is an eloquent sign of unity, of intimate friendship and "incorporation" in Christ, as well as faith and complete self-giving to him. The text of the Letter to the Hebrews (B) presents Jesus offering himself to purify our conscience from the works of death in order to serve the living God. In the Gospel passages it comes part of Discourse on the Bread of Life held by Jesus in Capernaum (cf.. GV 6), the last supper of Jesus and the institution of the Eucharist (cf.. MC 14, 12-6. 22-26) and the multiplication of the loaves (cf.. LC 9, 11-17). In particular, the stupendous sequence should be underlined Lauda Sion who sings of Christ the true Bread of Life who “feeds us, it defends us and leads us to eternal goods in the land of the living".

Liturgy of the hours. Beyond the hymns of Put lingua, the Sacred festivals he was born in The word coming from above, unsurpassed in content and musical melody, the psalms of the Office of Readings, of Lauds and Vespers summarize all the sentiments that a believing and loving soul can express to the Lord, who in the Eucharist gives us the eloquent sign of his infinite love for us. The two readings present the Eucharist as the center of the whole history of salvation, which has its preparation in the Old Testament and its full implementation in the New Testament. San Tommaso Aquino, in the second reading, don't hesitate to say

"the Only Begotten Son of God, wanting to make us partakers of his divinity […] became man to lift us to the heights of God […] in fact, he offered his body to God the Father as a victim on the altar of the cross for our reconciliation. He shed his blood making it count as a price and as a lavage because, redeemed from humiliating slavery, we were cleansed of all sins. Because, at last, remain in us a constant reminder of so great a benefit, he left his Body as food and his Blood as drink to his faithful, under the species of bread and wine. Oh, wonderful banquet! What can be more valuable? No sacrament is healthier than this. The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's passion, it is the greatest of all the wonders he wrought, it is the admirable document of his immense love for men» (Opusc. 57, on the Feast of the Body of the Lord, lect. 1-4).

Eucharistic Procession. As we have already said, In order to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Pope Urban IV extended the feast of The body of the Lord to the whole Church. While making no mention in the Bull of a Eucharistic procession, he immediately got into the habit of showing the faithful the Eucharistic Species during a solemn procession with the Blessed Sacrament, which evidently has always stood out for its special importance and significance in the pastoral life of Christian communities. It therefore agrees that, where current circumstances allow it and where the procession can truly be a sign of faith and adoration, it is preserved. In this case it is good that the procession with the Blessed Sacrament takes place immediately after Mass, in which the Host is consecrated and then carried in procession. The songs and prayers that are made along the way, lead everyone to manifest their faith in Christ, solely intent on the light of the Lord (cf.. Rite of Communion outside Mass and Eucharistic Worship, NN. 102 – 104).

Sorry to see - as attested by numerous messages from priests who arrived on our Island of Patmos in the past days - that in many of our cities by now the procession of The body of the Lord it has become a memory. Even the Diocese of Rome did not have its procession this year: on the other hand, on the eve of The body of the Lord however, it was used to carry out the meeting conference on human fraternity entitled Not Alone, which also included the presence of the Holy Father, did not materialize due to the last surgery.

That of Rome is just one example of an elegant episcopal "apology". ― with lots of shrugs to those who instead point out the importance of such a gesture ― to leave our streets and squares to others, most of the time transformed into large open-air trattorias, in this sense it would be enough to take a tour of Piazza del Duomo in Florence to realize it …

Perhaps on this trend of throwing away all our traditions to be "politically correct" it would be better to make a serene but urgent reflection, even if the discomfort and suffering that the priests and consequently the faithful are experiencing in an ever greater form, it would seem to matter little or nothing.

Florence, 11 June 2023

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There was only one professional flea-hunting Italian politician who sighed about the way Volodymyr Zelensky violated protocol

THERE WAS ONLY ONE ITALIAN POLITICIAN PROFESSIONAL FLEA HUNTER WHO HAS SHIPPED ABOUT THE WAY VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYJ VIOLATED THE PROTOCOL

We are not talking about formalities or formalities, but of institutional protocol, which is not based on futile external forms, but it is based precisely on the respect due to those who welcome you: be the country, is its head of state, is its Prime Minister.

— News in brief —

Author
Editors of The Island of Patmos

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Autocrat of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky — because he is like his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin: an autocrat — he showed up on an official state visit to Italy with clothing that was not simply indecorous, but really disrespectful.

We are not talking about formalities or formalities, but of institutional protocol, which is not based on futile external forms, but it is based precisely on the respect due to those who welcome you: be the country, is its head of state, is its Prime Minister. Therefore, uno that it behaves this way denotes two things:
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1) I can afford everything;
2) i am me and you are not a … as the legendary Marchese del Grillo said in a famous film by Alberto Sordi that has now gone down in history.
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Complimentary for this hunting clothing&fishing they could even give him a cane … fishing. There had only been one, among our many professional flea-hunting politicians, that he sighed, only one.
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It must be recognized that Vladimir Putin, when he disrespects people and institutions he does it at least in a more subtle way ed “Elegant”, for example, showing up twice late on an official visit to the Supreme Pontiff: In the 2013 with 50 minutes and then to follow In the 2015 with an hour and 10 minutes of delay. Of the series: “I am the Tsar of Great Russia, I can afford this and more, but wanting more”.
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the Island of Patmos 14 May 2023

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.HTTPS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltEAQNopUYM&t=2s

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Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

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